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Bring The Goalie

You have a floorball program up and running, you have players, teams forming, but you don’t have any consistent goalies.

That is pretty normal problem for any sport that involves the position of a goalie to play. While there are alternatives to have a real goalie such as using a shooter trainer in front of the goal, or by using smaller goals with no goalie, nothing is quite the same as having a live goalie in the mix. Playing with goalies changes a number of aspects of the game on the defensive and offensive side of the ball. However, there are some barriers to that mainly the cost associated to purchase the necessary protective equipment. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a shot you know how important it is for goalies to have the proper equipment. If you’re lucky and have someone who’s dedicated to the position they’ll invest in getting the equipment needed to play. While having head to toe protection is nice there are a number of options out there that can do that job to get by.

Where you’re an individual looking to buy gear or a program looking to have gear on hand the top three pieces of equipment that are a must have are a helmet, knee pads, and chest protector. Aside from the helmet you can pretty much piece together the rest to make it work. If you’re looking to have equipment available for multiple users, such as at a facility, you’ll want to purchase multiples and take into account sanitary and cleaning procedures. In some cases you might already have some of this equipment if you’re moving from ball hockey to floorball. There’s nothing that says you can’t use the same helmet and chest protector. Depending on your situation the catcher style chest protector might be a better financial option for your program. Sometimes you use what you have to make it work, and for recreational purposes that works just fine.

When you’re looking at goalie equipment there is a lot out there online and for the most part it’s all very similar. Like any product floorball goalie gear is focused around protection, comfort, and the ability to absorb energy to control the ball (think minimizing rebounds). One thing to note is that a floorball goalie helmet is not the same as an ice hockey helmet. While there share a lot of the same characteristics floorball helmets are considerably lighter, and are very similar to street hockey goalie helmets. Pricing will vary as any other piece of equipment, but depending on what your needs are or your personal preferences there is a variety out there to meet your needs. The same goes for knee padding. A number of floorball companies sell knee pads, but floorball knee pads vary from volleyball pads. Floorball knee pads are typically large and provide more complete protection around the knee. In some cases they will also extend down to the middle of the shin for additional protection.

The biggest thing is don’t worry about the initial cost. You don’t need every piece of equipment right off the bat, and in many cases those who like playing goalie will go out and buy their own gear. Just don’t be shy in using goalies or getting some minimal piece of gear to get things going.